We are not invincible
by A Once Told Story
Summary: Bucky hangs from the side of Zola's train. He's going to fall. Steve takes one more step out to reach him, and it changes everything. AU where Steve and Bucky take the fall together, and what happens when HYDRA get their hands on the world's only Super Soldier.
1. Ghosts

ONE

**ghosts**

* * *

"I know who attacked you last night. I know who took Fury."

"Do tell."

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe they exist. The ones that do call them the Winter Soldiers. Between them they are credited with over thirty assassinations and kidnappings in the last fifty years."

"I've heard the stories of the Winter Soldiers and let me assure you that if any one of them was true, I'd be dead by now."

"Damn close."

"Sweetheart... They are ghost stories, okay? That's all there is to it. Fairy tales and myths."

"It wasn't a ghost that gave _this_ to me. You remember five years ago? That escort mission in Iran?"

"You came back covered in blood. I thought I lost you that time for sure."

"I never told you who shot me."

"I didn't think you could remember."

"Oh, I remember. They shot out my tires and sent me and that nuclear scientist over a cliff. I pulled us out, thought the ones that shot at us would think we were dead. I was wrong. I tried to cover the scientist when one of them came at us. Only I had not seen the other one."

"The Winter Soldiers?"

"One kept me busy, put four bullets in me before I could take cover. The other shot the scientist."

"How do you know these are the same guys?"

"You said they spoke Russian? Russian tongue, Russian guns, and that star on their clothes. The way they do things. Same guys."

"But fifty years, honey... The men that knocked me out were in their thirties, tops."

"I can't explain it. I just _know._ The Winter Soldiers exist. And they're after you."

* * *

**A bit of a dodgy introduction, I admit, to my latest fanfiction project. If you think this story has potential, do tell me in a review. I just LOVE to read your reviews! Thank you for reading!**


	2. Grab my hand

TWO

**grab my hand**

* * *

James Buchanan Barnes held on with every uns of energy left in him. His entire body hurt from having hit the ripped-open side of the train. Has back burned, his shoulder ached and his head spun. Oh, it spun so bad, as if the train was going in small circles. And he held on. He heard a loud clang over the hard wind and the rhythmic chugging of wheels on rails.

"Bucky!"

The bar onto which he clung bent a little by his weight. The wind blew too much snow into his eyes for him to see, but he knew Steve's voice when he heard it. Bucky dared move one hand a little to the right, towards Steve and towards safety. The bar creaked but did not give way. He tried swinging himself to the right, but the bar would not hold for that and came loose from one of its hinges. Bucky lost the grip with one hand and reached out for where he knew Steve was, but no hand met his. He grabbed onto the bar again, and would not let go.

The snow ceased for a moment and Bucky could see Steve clearly. The big man — oh, Bucky was still not used to Steve's size — had climbed out dangerously far onto the side of the train. He stood upon a small ledge, with only a thin bar like Bucky's to hold on to. And he wasn't even holding it. His arm was stretched out towards Bucky, so close and yet so far. When Bucky did not reach a second time, Steve took another step out.

The ledge broke off.

Steve slid down the train wall when the bar could not hold his weight and broke off too. Bucky could not find the voice to cry out. Still his heart sang when he heard Steve's grunting beneath him. His friend had managed to cling to another ledge on the wall, but it was wet from snow and Steve was slipping.

Once again Bucky was allowed to see what was happening, and he saw Steve's struggling not to fall. Bucky took a firm grip with one hand and let go with the other. He reached out to Steve, desperate to help him.

"Grab my hand!"

Steve hesitated, looked at the hand with squinting eyes. Bucky's bar creaked again. His legs swung freely in the air. Steve was losing his grip of the metal wall.

"Steve! Now!"

The moment Steve reached a little further and his fingers intertwined with Bucky's, the bar over Bucky's head finally gave way and the man came crashing down. For a split second, Steve thought that if he just did not let go, he could hold them both. He couldn't. Bucky's weight landed in Steve's hand and his hand on the train wall slid right off. Before they knew it, the two of them were in a free fall, screaming at the top of their lungs as they foundered into the canyon far below.

It was over in seconds, but a few seconds was enough time for Steve to see the train vanish above him. To see Bucky tumble around in the air by his side. To meet his eyes for no more than a moment and wordlessly say all the things two friends might possibly want to say to each other before their imminent death. A few seconds to say good-bye, I'm sorry, I love you.

Then came the end of their high-speed descent. The terrain was not merciful. Steve hit ground a split second before Bucky did, just enough so that the last thing Bucky's senses registered before landing was the sound of his friend's body breaking. Darkness came before the end, swallowing them both up separately. It was cold and complete, but it was not death. At least not for Bucky. He felt a pain so immense that he was unsure whether it was pain at all. He could not move a single muscle, as if his body was no longer there.

He wondered what he had done to deserve this, and inside he laughed at himself.

* * *

**Next chapter: 3. Is he alive?**

**I'm quite pleased with how this turned out — if you like it, please tell me! I'm experimenting with a different writing style from my ordinary one, so I'd like to know what you think about it. I read every single review, and I respond to as many as I can, always. Thank you for reading!**

**A/N: The relationship between Steve and Bucky is strictly brotherly/friendly in this fanfic. I do not ship them, but if YOU do, then squint a little while reading and be my guest. I respect all opinions!**


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